


Karma Cafe

by AnonEhouse



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Deleted Scene, Gen, Post Avengers (Movie), Pre-Slash, Pre-Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-08
Updated: 2013-01-08
Packaged: 2017-11-24 03:31:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/629887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a deleted scene from the Avengers- Steve sits at a cafe across from Stark Tower to sketch buildings, a waitress flirts with him, and after she walks away, Stan Lee calls him a moron for not getting her number.</p><p>Well, months later, Steve is back at the cafe, and Stan continues the conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Karma Cafe

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

**_Welcome to the Karma Cafe. There are no menus. You get served what you deserve._ **

The cafe was so much like it had been that day he'd stopped to sketch. Steve felt a flush of New Yorker pride. It had only been a few months, but everything had been cleaned up and a lot of rebuilding was underway. 

Steve couldn't resist pausing to sit at a table with a good view of Stark Tower and getting out his sketch pad. It seemed less ugly to him with only an 'A'. Tony had various excuses why that had been rewired for light, and left on its own, but he'd heard Tony say 'Avengers Tower' a few times so he had his own theory on the matter.

The waitress obviously recognized him, but she was considerate enough to treat him like any other customer. He ordered a Coke and a corned beef on rye, with sour pickles and fresh, so they said, coleslaw. She took his order and left. He looked at the building in front of him and began lightly defining the space it occupied.

"You're still a moron."

Steve found himself grinning as he turned to face the same old man who'd been there on his first visit to the cafe. "I probably am, sir." He had a sneaking affection for feisty old people.

"So, why _don't_ you ask for her number?"

"I'm not looking for a girlfriend, sir."

The old man frowned for a second and then raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Well, do you have a boyfriend?"

Steve felt the heat in his cheeks. He'd seen and heard a lot in his cross-country trip before Fury called him back to New York, but he didn't think he'd ever get used to the way people discuss private things in public. And then he thought of Bucky. "I used to, sir. He died." Steve fiddled with his pencil, and blocked in a bit of darkness next to the Tower, for contrast.

If Steve imagined that would embarrass the old man, he was mistaken. A gnarled hand reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "Oh. I'm sorry. Have you been tested?"

"What?" For a moment Steve couldn't figure out what he meant, and then he recalled the talk Tony-- god, Tony of all people, had given him about sexually transmitted diseases of the future. Frankly, he'd prefer flying cars. "Oh! No, he didn't... he wasn't sick. It was an accident." And it had been. For the first time it really sank in. 

"When was this?" The old man was a really stubborn cuss, he got up and leaned on his cane to hobble over and sit across from Steve at his table, bringing his bagel with him.

"A long time ago, but it seems like only yesterday."

The old man patted Steve's hand. "So, you don't have anybody steady? I can see that playing the field would be easy for you now, but those muscles," he paused to poke at Steve's chest, "won't last forever. You need someone who'll stay with you when you're an old fart, like me."

Steve coughed. He was embarrassed, but oddly, enjoying the conversation. It was a heck of a lot easier than talking to SHIELD's head-shrinkers, psychiatrists, therapists, whatever they called themselves. "No, I don't have anyone, and it's just as well. My work keeps me too busy to date."

"What do you do?"

Steve began to wonder if the old guy worked for SHIELD. He was a hell of an interrogator. No. No, he wasn't going to be paranoid. This was just a nice, nosy old man, talking to a stranger because he was lonely. "I'm..." What was the phrase Tony had used the other day when they were fighting giant squid in the harbor? Oh, yeah. "I'm a first responder. I lead a team. We're in a lot of dangerous situations. It wouldn't be fair for me to lead someone on. I won't ever have a normal life to offer."

The old man chewed on that, and on his bagel, for a minute. Steve's snack arrived and they ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. The coleslaw was actually pretty good.

"What about someone on your team? Anyone make your heart race?"

Steve grinned, thinking of the last argument he had with Tony. "Yeah, but mostly because he's always trying to get my goat. The first time we met he said I was in great shape for an old guy and asked if I did Pilates."

"I'll bet you a bag of doughnuts, the good kind, he was flirting with you." 

"He doesn't date guys."

The old man laughed. "Wow, you really have crap gaydar, don't you? My grandson would have recognized that as a come on, and he's only sixteen."

"Huh." Steve thought about it as he took another bite of corned beef. "Well, maybe." Really, Tony... yeah... could be.

"So, does he date gals, then? Got anyone he's seeing? I bet not, or you'd have said so!" The old man grinned at him, gleeful about his logical reasoning.

"Um. No, not now. I didn't hear the details, but he broke up with his girlfriend soon after we met."

The old man rolled his eyes. "Do you need someone to draw you a map?"

Steve shrugged. "I guess not. But, it's just... we work together. If I'm wrong, and I approach him, it'll be awkward."

"So, buy the guy a burger, talk to him about something outside of work, see what happens. What could it hurt?"

Steve looked up at the familiar sound of repulsors, and watched Iron Man come into a landing at his balcony, far above. "Yeah, you know, a burger couldn't hurt." He put down enough money to pay for his food, along with a tip, and rose to his feet. "Thanks, Mister." 

The old man watched him leave. He shook his head. "Superheroes in New York City... they're ridiculous."

**Author's Note:**

> And yeah, Tony is fairly definitely going to be with Pepper in Iron Man 3 after Avengers, but don't harsh my mellow by pointing that out, please.
> 
> Since IM3 isn't out yet, this isn't currently impossible-- and even then, it'll just be an AU.


End file.
